Pittsburgh outlasts Virginia Commonwealth in overtime

Mar 18, 2007 - 5:30 AM
BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- After two costly misses at the
free-throw line, Levance Fields had to step back to save
Pittsburgh's season.

Fields hit a crucial high-arcing 3-pointer in overtime and the
third-seeded Panthers held off a stirring comeback to defeat
11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth, 84-79, in a West Region
second-round game of the NCAA Tournament.

I'm very proud of our guys and how they responded," Panthers
coach Jamie Dixon said. "Once we got into overtime I think that
showed our team's true heart. It takes a lot to do, come out
of the gate in that overtime and do the things that we did. I'm
very proud of them and not at all surprised. We were able to
get a win against a very good team."

Despite blowing the huge lead, the Panthers appeared poised to
pulled out the victory in regulation when Fields stepped to the
free-throw line with 2.1 seconds left. But the sophomore guard
missed both attempts and VCU's Mike Anderson made a heady play
to tie up Sam Young after he grabbed the rebound of Fields'
second attempt.

With Pitt clinging to a one-point lead and the shot clock
winding down in the extra session, Fields hoisted a rainbow
3-pointer from the top of the key with a defender in his face
that swished through the net for a 75-71 lead with 3:08 to play.

"After the two free throws my teammates and coaches told me to
put it behind me, we have five more minutes to get the job
done," Fields said. "Everybody believed in me, my confidence
was still up. Of course I was disappointed, I didn't want to
let the seniors or my team down.

"When I took that shot (in overtime) I was very confident. When
it went through the basket it was a feeling of relief."

Ronald Ramon followed with a 3-pointer to build the Panthers'
lead to seven and seemingly finish the Rams, who conquered Duke
in the opening round.

However, VCU (28-7) rattled off a 6-0 run to close within 80-79
on a driving layup by point guard Eric Maynor, but Pitt ended
the suspense as Mike Cook and Sam Young each made two free
throws in the final 19 seconds.

"My mind set (in overtime) was that we had another life," Rams
guard B.A. Walker said. "We scratched and clawed to get back in
the game. We just tried to stay calm and impose our will in
overtime, play our style of game. We just fell short, time ran
out."

Pitt started to take control of the game midway through the
opening half. Hitting 14 of their first 25 shots, the Panthers
went ahead by 12 points en route to a 41-26 lead at the break.

Aside from the hot shooting, Pitt adroitly handled VCU's press
and continued to pull away, extending the lead to 51-32 with
just over 12 minutes to play.

"I thought (Pitt) did a good job with their press offense,
flashing the two big (guys) with (Levon) Kendall and (Aaron)
Gray," Rams coach Anthony Grant said. "The problem with their
big guys was once they got it across halfcourt we had a
difficult time defending Gray in the low post, we had a
difficult time with a guy like Kendall. They were able to keep
the ball alive on the glass."

Guards Walker and Jesse Pellot-Rosa finally got untracked and
combined for 25 points in a 35-16 surge that pulled the Rams
even at 67-67 with 2:06.

"You're going to go through adversity in a basketball game,"
Maynor said. "Coach tells us it's a 40-minute game. Going into
halftime we were down 15. The first thing he told us was we
have another 20 minutes. We've got a lot of heart. Our will to
win, we just fell short tonight."

Pellot-Rosa scored on a follow shot to give VCU its first lead
at 69-67 with 52 seconds left but Pitt smartly answered with a
home run pass to Young to tie it five seconds later.

That led to the two misses at the line and the overtime session.

"I don't think there was doubt in their minds we were going to
win the game," Dixon said. "That was the feeling in the huddle,
that's what we talked about. It was a group effort, building
us back up and being ready to go. The guys believed. We're
proud of how they handled it, that's the true sense of
character."

Young finished with 15 points and center Gray added 14 and eight
rebounds despite a case of food poisoning for the Panthers, who
led, 51-32, with just over 12 minutes to play.

Pellot-Rosa scored all 20 of his points in the second half.
Walker also had 20 for the Rams, who hung in even though Pitt
shot 54 percent (31-of-57) from the floor.

"I'd like to give a lot of credit to Pittsburgh. I thought they
played an excellent game," Grant said. "That being said,
there's a level of disappointment for us that we weren't able to
come out with a victory. We've understood in order for us to
have a chance to win there's certain things we have to do."